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Taylor: City of University Heights Audit Finds Former Finance Director Received $33,451 in Unearned Payroll Advances and Other Payments

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Cuyahoga County - Auditor of State Mary Taylor today released the fiscal year 2008 financial audit of the city of University Heights, showing that Arman Ochoa, the city’s former finance director, received payroll advances and vacation leave payments totaling $71,292. Although he has since reimbursed the city for a portion of that sum, the audit finds Ochoa is responsible for repaying the remaining $33,451.

“We will hold public officials accountable for the dollars they are entrusted to spend,” Taylor said. “Uncovering abuse such as this is one of the priorities for the Auditor of State’s office.”

The audit found that Ochoa typically did not prepare timesheets to document his part-time work for the city and he was paid at the beginning of each month before any work was actually performed. According to the audit, he received $69,795.77 in salary advances for work not yet performed and $1,496.37 in vacation leave overpayments. Numerous other problems with the city’s payroll procedures have been referred by auditors to the Internal Revenue Service.

As the state’s chief taxpayer watchdog, Taylor is committed to rooting out the fraud, waste and abuse of taxpayer dollars.

The Ohio Auditor of State’s office is a leader in the accounting and auditing field, earning prestigious national honors from the Government Finance Officers Association, the National White Collar Crime Center and the National State Auditor’s Association.